academic achievement and thinking styles by
TRANSCRIPT
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND THINKING STYLES
AMONG GRADE TEN STUDENTS IN SELECTED
ISLAMIC PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN SOUTHERN
THAILAND
BY
NASNEEN PATCHANEE
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for
the degree of Master in Education
Kulliyyah of Education
International Islamic University Malaysia
SEPTEMBER 2017
ii
ABSTRACT
Researchers have been investigating various factors for differences in academic
achievement among students besides the emphasis on cognitive intelligence. In fact, it
has been found that academic achievement is not determined by cognitive intelligence
alone. Among the factors that are thought to contribute to students‘ success and
academic achievement is thinking style. It stems from the belief that people have
similar patterns in governing themselves just like society does. Studies have shown
that people have different thinking styles – legislative, executive, and judicial style
which do affect the way they prefer to do their tasks. Legislative style is considered as
creative thinking, executive style is viewed as following instruction, and judicial style
is represented as critical thinking. It has been found that students from Islamic private
schools in southern Thailand, in general, do not perform well in public examinations.
Hence, this study investigated the thinking styles of three categories of students and
their relationship to academic achievement. Three groups of academic achievers
among students from 3 selected Islamic private schools in Nakhonsrithammarat – in
upper southern Thailand were identified as the sample. It comprised 158 grade ten
students and the three groups were classified into low achievers (N=36), average
achievers (N=102), and high achievers (N=20) based on the Ordinary National
Educational Test (O-NET) score. The sample was obtained using stratified random
sampling for low and average achievers while purposive sampling was used for high
achievers. The descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and Sternberg‘s
interpretation of the MSG scores were used in analyzing the data. The results reveal
that the executive style was the predominant thinking style exhibited by all groups of
academic achievers. Additionally, the judiciary style was the prevailing thinking style
displayed by male students while the executive style was the most noticeable style
presented by female students. Furthermore, only the legislative thinking style was
found to be an indicator towards students‘ levels of academic achievement. However,
it was a weak one.
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خلاصة البحث
يهدف هذا البحث إلى الكشف عن فوارق التحصيل العلمي بين الطلاب إلى جانب التركيز بل من . في الواقع، التحصيل الدراسي وحده لا يحدده الذكاء المعرفي فقط. على الذكاء المعرفي
ويعتقد أن . الدراسي هو نمط التفكيرهمالعوامل التي يعتقد أنها تسهم في نجاح الطلبة وتحصيلفقد أظهرت الدراسات أن . الناس لديهم أنماط مماثلة في الإدارة نفسها تماما مثل أي مجتمع
التشريعية والتنفيذية والقضائية، تؤثر على الطريقة التي – الناس لديهم أنماط تفكير مختلفة فالنمط التشريعي يمثل التفكير الإبداعي، والنمط التنفيذي يمثل .يفضلونها في القيام بمهامهم
وقد وجد أن الطلاب في المدارس . تنفيذ التعليمات، والنمط القضائي يمثل التفكير النقدي. في الامتحانات العامةأداؤهم غير جيدالخاصة الإسلامية في جنوب تايلاند، بشكل عام،
ة ومن ثم فهذه الدراسة تهدف لمعرفة أنماط التفكير لدى ثلاث فئات من الطلاب وعلاق 3 من الناجحينوتم تحديد ثلاث مجموعات من الطلاب . الأكاديميهمبتحصيلذلك
جنوب تايلاند كعينة للدراسة بلغت –مدارس إسلامية خاصة في مقاطعة ناخونسريثامارات قد صنفت المجموعات الثلاث إلى ثلاثة مستويات؛ مستوى و. طالبا من الصف العاشر158وذلك (N=20)، ومستوى متفوق (N=102)، ومستوى متوسط (N=36)متدني
وتم اختيار العينة باستخدام العينة ". اديعتياختبار التربية الوطنية الا"استناداً إلى تصنيف العشوائية الطبقية للمستويين المتدني والمتوسط، بينما استخدمت العينة الهادفة لاختيار
، وتفسير ستيرنبرغ "الانحدار المتعدد"استخدم الإحصاء الوصفي وتحليل تم و. المتفوقينMSGوأوضحت النتائج أن النمط التنفيذي هو نمط التفكير السائد . في تحليل البيانات
إضافة إلى ذلك، كان أسلوب السلطة . لدى كل فئات الطلبة في التحصيل الأكاديميالقضائية هو الأسلوب السائد في التفكير لدى الطلبة الذكور، بينما كان النمط التنفيذي
علاوة على ذلك، وجدت الدراسة أن نمط التفكير . هو النمط السائد لدى الطالباتلذلك، يعتبر مؤشرا . التشريعي يعتبر مؤشرا نحو مستويات الطلبة في التحصيل الدراسي
.ضعيفا
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APPROVAL PAGE
I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms
to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and
quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Education.
…………………………………..
Rosnani Hashim
Supervisor
I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable
standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a
dissertation for the degree of Master of Education.
…………………………………..
Merah Souad
Examiner
This dissertation was submitted to the Department of Social Foundations and
Educational Leadership and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the
degree of Master of Education.
…………………………………..
Azam Othman
Head, Department of Social
Foundations and Educational
Leadership
This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Education and is accepted as a
fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Education.
…………………………………..
Hairuddin Mohd Ali
Dean, Kulliyyah of Education
v
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except
where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently
submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.
Nasneen Patchanee
Signature............................................ Date.........................................
vi
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF
FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND THINKING STYLES
AMONG GRADE TEN STUDENTS IN SELECTED ISLAMIC
PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN SOUTHERN THAILAND
I declare that the copyright holders of this dissertation are jointly owned by the student
and IIUM.
Copyright © 2017 Nasneen Patchanee and International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights
reserved.
No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder
except as provided below
1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may
be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.
2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print
or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.
3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieved system
and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other
universities and research libraries.
By signing this form, I acknowledged that I have read and understand the IIUM
Intellectual Property Right and Commercialization policy.
Affirmed by Nasneen Patchanee
……..…………………….. ………………………..
Signature Date
vii
This thesis is dedicated to:
My mother; Fathimah, My dad; Ahmad,
My brother; Sadiqeen, my niece; Zilmee
This work could have never been completed without their endless support,
encouragement and inspiration
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All praise and thanks are to Allah Sub'hanahu wa Ta'ala for bestowing me His
abundant blessings, mercy, help, and guidance in completing this work. As I always
tell those who are around me, that if one day they see me graduate, know that it‘s the
Mercy of Allah sent to me for without it I could never accomplish this.
A number of people have provided guidance, support, and encouragement to
me as I have walked on this academic route and throughout the process of developing
and completing this thesis. I would like to acknowledge the many people who have
supported and guided me throughout my journey.
First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge and thank Prof. Dr. Rosnani
Hashim for readily accepting to be my supervisor and for her generosity of time,
expert guidance, invaluable advice, unfailing support and extensive knowledge. I am
grateful to have a chance to work with her and to be under her supervision. She is a
caring teacher who has never failed in trying to understand my needs and extending
help to me to get through the tough and complicated situation.
Besides, I would also like to thank the other kind lecturers who have lent their
hands and guided me to overcome certain obstacles. Thank you, Asst. Prof. Dr. Merah
Souad, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suhailah Hussien, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burhan Ibrahim and
Mr.Thomas Hodgson, for their thorough and precious suggestions for my thesis.
Moreover, I must also thank the three selected Islamic private schools in
Nakhonsrithammarat province: Almuwahidin School, Islamic Santitham Foundation
School, and Prateepsasana Islamic Schoolfor allowing me to conduct the study and
distribute the questionnaire. This research could not have been accomplished without
their kind cooperation.
In addition, throughout this process, I have been sustained by the love and
support of my family and friends. Their consistent support, patience, and love given to
me are gifts themselves. To my dear parents, thank you for always being there for me,
without your prayers, understanding, endurance, love, and caring along the way, I
would never have come this far. Special thanks go to my friends, sisters, and brothers
who believe in me more than I ever believed in myself: sister Dayang, Nawal, Azlina,
Nurul, Muna, Sharmeen, Jannah, Najwa, Yusra, Ibe Toyebi as well as brother Majid
and AbdulFatai. My heartfelt thanks to my loving second family in Malaysia: Pakcik
Khairi and Makcik Hidah who always recharged my power to be full again with their
precious nasihat and support. Last but not least, I wish to thank all education staff for
bearing with me, easing the way for me through the processes needed to get things
done and helping me to achieve this degree.
May Allah (S.W.T.) grant His abounding love to us all, ease us to contribute
what we have gained from education to mankind and continually guide us to His right
pat.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .........................................................................................................................ii Abstract in Arabic .........................................................................................................iii Approval Page ...............................................................................................................iv Declaration ....................................................................................................................iv Copyright Page..............................................................................................................vi Dedication .....................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................xi List of Figures ...............................................................................................................xiiii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................1 1.1 Background of the Study ............................................................................1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................3 1.3 Purpose of the Study ...................................................................................6 1.4 Research Questions .....................................................................................6 1.5 Hypotheses ..................................................................................................6 1.6 Significance of the Study ............................................................................7 1.7 Delimitations of the Study ..........................................................................8 1.8 Theoretical Framework ...............................................................................10 1.9 Operational Definitions ...............................................................................11 1.10 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................12
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................14 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................14 2.2 Academic Achievement ..............................................................................14
2.2.1 Definition of Academic Achievement ...............................................14 2.2.2 Importance of Academic Achievement .............................................17 2.2.3 O-NET as an Academic Achievement of the Study ..........................18 2.2.4 Factors Affecting Academic Achievement ........................................19
2.3 Thinking Styles ...........................................................................................30
2.3.1 Thinking Styles by Sternberg.............................................................30 2.3.2 Related Research on Sternberg‘s Thinking Styles .............................33 2.3.3 Thinking Styles in Thailand ...............................................................38
2.4 Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement .............................................41 2.5 Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement in Thailand .........................43 2.6 Three Thinking Styles Targeted ..................................................................71 2.7 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................71
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................74 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................74 3.2 Research Design..........................................................................................74 3.3 Population ...................................................................................................75
3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Technique ........................................................76 3.5 Instrument ...................................................................................................78
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3.6 Validity and The Reliability of the Instrument ...........................................82 3.7 Data Collection Procedure ..........................................................................83 3.8 Data Analysis ..............................................................................................84 3.9 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................85
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS .............................................86 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................86 4.2 Participants‘ Demographic Characteristics .................................................86
4.2.1 Gender ................................................................................................87 4.2.2 School ................................................................................................87 4.2.3 Academic Achievement Categories ...................................................88
4.3 Students‘ Thinking Styles ...........................................................................88 4.3.1 Legislative Style of Thinking.............................................................89 4.3.2 Executive Style of Thinking ..............................................................93 4.3.3 Judicial Style of Thinking ..................................................................98
4.3.4 Sternberg‘s Interpretation of Scores for Each Thinking Style ...........102
4.3.5 Thinking Styles among Three Groups of Academic Achievers ........103
4.3.5.1 Thinking Styles and Categories of Academic
Achievers ...............................................................................106
4.3.5.2 Thinking Styles and Genders .................................................107
4.4 Best Predictor for Levels of Achievement ..................................................109 4.5 Discussion ...................................................................................................112 4.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................114
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSION,
IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................116 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................116 5.2 Summary .....................................................................................................116 5.3 Findings.......................................................................................................117
5.4 Implications and Recommendations for Future Research ..........................118
5.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................120
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................122
APPENDIX A: LETTERS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH FROM
KULLIYYAH OF EDUCATION .................................................131 APPENDIX B: TRANSLATION OF LETTERS TO CONDUCT
RESEARCH FROM KULLIYYAH OF EDUCATION .............134
APPENDIX C: QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................138 APPENDIX D: TRANSLATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE ...................................141
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LIST OF TABLES
Table No. Page No.
2.1 Sternberg‘s 13 thinking styles in the Theory of Mental Self-
Government 33
2.2 Publication Year, Authors, Topic, Research Design and
Summary of Findings of the Major Findings of Recent
Research on Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement
Across the World 50
2.3 Publication Year, Authors, Topic, Research Design and
Summary of Findings of the Major Findings of Recent
Research on Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement
in Thailand 66
3.1 The Numbers of Grade 10 Students in the Three Selected
Schools 75
3.2 Distribution of Students by Group based on O-NET
Examination Scores 76
3.3 The Sample Numbers of Grade 10 Students in the Three
Selected Schools based on Academic Achievement 78
3.4 Items Associated with Each Subscale on the Thinking
Styles Inventory 79
3.5 Items for Each Scale of the Thinking Styles Inventory for
this Study 81
3.6 Reliability of Thai Thinking Styles Inventory by
Shuangthong (2005) 83
3.7 Alignment between Research Questions and Data Analysis
Procedure 85
4.1 Sample by Gender 87
4.2 Distribution of Sample by School 87
4.3 Sample by Categories of Academic Achievement 88
4.4 Legislative Thinking Style 89
4.5 Executive Thinking Style 94
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4.6 Judicial Thinking Style 99
4.7 Sternberg‘s Interpretation of the Thinking Style Score 103
4.8 Styles of Thinking among Three Groups of Achievers
based on Sternberg‘s Interpretation 105
4.9 Correlation of the Predictor and Criterion Variables 109
4.10 ANOVA 110
4.11 Model Summary 110
4.12 Coefficient 111
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No. Page No.
1.1 Theoretical Framework based on Mental Self-Government
Theory 10
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This study is designed to examine the predominant thinking styles based on the
function of mental self-government among three different groups of academic
achievers and to see if there is any relationship between thinking styles and academic
achievement among the three groups of achievers. The study looks into the factors that
affect students‘ academic outcomes. It begins with the background of the study,
followed by the statement of the problems, which shed some light on the need for
conducting this study. It also includes the objectives of the study, research questions,
significance of the study, delimitation/scope of the study, as well as definition of
terms.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
People are all different from one another in various aspects. Such notion is a universal
truth. Bernardo, Zhang and Callueng (2002) indicated that, among the various
individual differences, styles have received extra attention in recent years. Zhang and
Sternberg (2006) gave evidence showing why investigating the role of styles in human
performance is a worthwhile endeavor due to the fact that: ―(a) styles contribute to
human performance over and above abilities, (b) styles and abilities are generally
orthogonal and (c) there are fundamental differences between styles and abilities at the
conceptual level‖ (p.19). These may be the reasons why the role of intellectual styles
in human behaviors and performances has attracted researchers‘ interest for more than
half a decade (Zhang, 2008).
2
Intellectual style is a broad term, which includes three other constructs, such as
cognitive styles, learning styles and thinking styles (Sanyin Cheng & Zhang, 2014).
All of them can be utilized to understand individuals‘ differences in both educational
and working places (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005; Valencia, 2007; Zhang, 2008).
Thinking styles, however, have significantly and meaningfully contributed to
education in understanding the stylistic differences among those who are in an
educational setting. Sadegh, Hojjattollah and Ahmadreza (2015) emphasized that
nowadays thinking has gained special interest in education. Therefore it is taken into
account as a crucial function in education. That is the reason why the studies about
thinking styles are increasingly conducted in educational settings.
Thinking style is the product of mental self-government (MSG), which was
developed by Sternberg in 1994. Sternberg defined thinking style as a comfortable
way in using the abilities of people (Sternberg, 1999; Sternberg & Zhang, 2005). The
term government here represents the chosen alternative choice that externally reflects
what is happening in one‘s mind (Sternberg, 1999). In other words, it represents how
one manages or organizes oneself just like how society governs itself (Zhang, 2002;
Sternberg & Zhang, 2005). Therefore, people tend to choose certain styles that they
perceive to comfortably suit them in managing their daily tasks (Sternberg, 1988,
1999). Sternberg proposed 13 styles of thinking, which fall into 5 categories such as
functions, forms, levels, scopes, and learning of government. Thinking styles,
however, are not viewed as ability but rather the preferred way that one feels
comfortable in dealing with whatever abilities one has (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005;
Mohamed, 2007). Therefore, it cannot be used to judge anyone who has a particular
style of thought as ‗good‘ or ‗bad‘ (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005).
3
In addition, researchers have attempted to understand the phenomenon of
academic performance among students and to find out some factors that can explain
this situation (Damavandi, Mahyuddin, Elias, Daud & Shabani, 2011). Generally,
ability is something that is primarily used to describe students‘ academic achievement.
However, it is not holistic enough to do so since researchers have affirmed that there
are some individual differences other than the abilities that are considered to be
important factors in students‘ academic outcome (Sternberg, 1997; Damavandi et al.,
2011; Negahi, Nouri & Khoram, 2015). Thinking style is one of the predictive
variables that describes academic performance among students (Albaili, 2007).
Furthermore, Fan, Zhang and Watkins (2010) also acknowledged that thinking styles
had an impact on students‘ achievement, even more so than conventional variables,
that have been used as academic achieving predictors for a long time, such as ability
and personality. There is a growing need to study thinking styles across the world.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Islamic private schools were formerly called „Pondok‟ – the institutes that taught only
religious subjects in Islam . However, in 1982, the schools were transformed into
modern schools by the Private School Act 1982, under the Office of Private Education
Commission, Ministry of Education. The new schools began to offer an integreted
curriculum that inclued religious subjects as well as other subjects such as English,
Mathematics, Social Science, Languages etc.
Due to this change, it was found that many Islamic private schools across the
country have failed in adapting the new system and curriculum, which is based on the
national curriculum by the Ministry of Education of Thailand. Churngchow
Boonchaoy and Thongkum (1998) reported that students in Islamic private schools
4
obtained low academic performance because these schools could not adjust well with
the new government policy. Narongraksakhet (2006) described that the number of
students in Islamic schools has increased after the Ministry of Education financially
supported Islamic private schools, and this has led to three problems: (1) over
crowded schools; (2) the lack of qualified teachers, (3) educational quality below the
standard boundary. As a result, the educational quality of many Islamic private
schools could not meet the standard set by the Office for National Education
Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA). This evidence shows that Islamic
private schools were facing a big challenge in producing successful students.
There are a number of variables that were found to contribute to academic
achievement other than students‘ cognitive intelligence and academic capacity. One
variable that is recognized to play a significant role in students‘ academic achievement
is the intellectual style, which comprises cognitive style, learning style and thinking
style. Among these three, thinking style is worthy to be studied especially in an
attempt to understand students‘ stylistic preferences in carrying out their abilities. This
is the reason why students should not be purely judged or evaluated only based on
their academic achievement without looking into the preferred ways in carrying out
their abilities. Thus, it would be better if the preferred ways of utilizing ability of
students are assessed and their results are used to adjust instruction since Sternberg
(1997) believed that every student has ability, but the way they employ it varies from
one to another. In order to extend students‘ academic success, stylistic preferences
among students, therefore, should be taken into account in an educational setting.
Sternberg‘s Thinking Styles are not something new to the Thai research field
since they were first introduced by the Thai researcher Wongwilaiwarin in 2003. The
latter was found in ThaiLis (Thai Library Integrated System) the main online database
5
for all researches that were done in Thailand. However, the research remains
inadequate since, the literature pointed out that there were merely six studies
conducted pertaining to Thinking styles of Sternberg‘s Mental self-government theory
(i.e. Chaiyapornpattana & Wongwanich, 2013; Homhoun, 2014; Kulnapadol, 2013;
Phumkhachorn, 2012; Shoungthong, 2005; Wongvilaivarin, 2003). Three of them
were intended to examine the relationship between thinking styles and academic
achievement (i.e. Chaiyapornpattana & Wongwanich, 2013; Kulnapadol, 2013;
Phumkhachorn, 2012). However, there were no studies conducted in Islamic settings
such as Islamic private schools where most Muslim parents in Thailand tend to send
their kids to study (Kornkasem, 2009; Krahomwong et al., 2003; Narongraksakhet,
1995).
Previous researches indicated that thinking styles made a significant
contribution to academic achievement (Albaili, 2007). Therefore, knowing students‘
thinking styles will enable teachers of Islamic private schools to enhance and to
extend the academic achievement among students. In the case of Thailand, even
though there are several studies investigating the styles of thinking in Thailand, none
of them have been conducted in the Muslim educational context.
This study therefore aims to investigate the predominant thinking styles among
three levels of academic achievers and to examine if academic achievement has a
significant relationship with the style of thought among students in three selected
Islamic private schools, using a questionnaire adopted and adapted from the Thinking
Styles Inventory‘ (TSI) by Sternberg and Wagner (1991) and the Thai version of
Shoungthong (2005).
6
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The primary goal of this study was to determine if there is any significant relationship
between three selected thinking styles and three levels of academic achievements of
grade 10 students in Islamic schools. The objectives of this study are as follows;
1. To investigate the predominant thinking styles exhibited by students
according to
(a) Levels of academic achievement (high, average and low) and
(b) Gender (male and female students)
2. To determine the best predictor for the three levels of academic
achievements (high, average, low) in terms of thinking styles.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
RQ1: What are the predominant thinking-styles exhibited by students based on;
(a) Levels of academic achievement (high, average and low) and
(b) Gender (male and female students)
RQ2: What is the best predictor for the three levels of academic achievements (high,
average, low) in terms of thinking styles?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
For the second research question, the hypothesis is:
H0: None of the thinking styles is the best predictor for the three levels of
academic achievements.
HA: At least one thinking style can predict the academic achievement of three
groups of achievers.
7
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings of the present study can provide an important contribution to both the
theoretical and practical aspects. Firstly, the findings of this study can add new
theoretical knowledge especially on thinking styles of Muslim students in Thailand.
This is important especially in highlighting the neglected students‘ individual
preferences‘ influencing their academic achievement especially in Islamic private
schools.
Secondly, the results of this study can be beneficial for teachers, educators,
educational psychologists and counselors in Thai schools especially in Islamic private
schools to gain a better understanding of students and their learning styles. Most of the
time, teachers prepare their lesson plans or their instruction based on a ‗one size fits
all‘ pattern to students. This way of teaching and assigning instruction will merely
benefit certain students, not all. Other students who have different preferences in
carrying out their academic capacity will lose their interest and focus, and tend to fail
to produce high academic achievement in the class. However, by understanding
students‘ thinking styles, teachers can practically improve and vary their ways of
teaching and the ways that instructions are given, so that they suits every students‘
preferences. Bloom (1976) asserted the importance of adjusting the way of teaching
and the different ways lessons were carried out, to enable students to get different
academic results. When students are assigned to do tasks, and the instructions given
make them feel comfortable, the curve of academic success will be improved. As
Sternberg and Grigorenko (1997) asserted, the practical advantage of thinking styles is
for teachers to use the result in differentiating instructions with an ultimate goal to
extend academic success among students. This is because when teachers recognize the
convenient way in dealing with tasks of students, teachers will be able to differentiate
8
instructions accordingly and as a result students will have better academic
achievement. When students have high academic achievement, they have more chance
to pursue a high quality of education in the next educational levels.
In conclusion, as stated earlier, the findings of the current study were intended
to be beneficial both theoretically and practically for education. As empirical research,
it fills the gap for educational research done pertaining to thinking style and its
relation with academic achievement in Thailand. Apart from that, its findings can be
used as a tool for teachers to adjust their instructions based on students‘ preferences in
utilizing their utmost academic capacity.
1.7 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Sternberg‘s theory consisted of 13 ways of thinking, which fall under five categories
of mental self-government. However, this study only focuses on the functional
dimension, which includes three styles of thinking: legislative, executive, and judicial
styles. The reason why these styles were targeted in this study is not only because the
legislative and judicial styles represent creativity and analysis which are the feature
components of the enrolled specialization of the researcher, but they are also
frequently considered to be among the most essential 21st century skills that students
should have (Lee, Jukes & Churches, 2011). While executive styles represent the lack
of utilizing creativity and making evaluation, thus students who hold this style are
more likely to do task based activities with clear instructions.
Moreover, the population of this study is from 3 selected Islamic private
schools in Muang district of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Thailand namely: 1)
Islamic Santitham Foundation School, 2) Prateepsasana Islamic School and 3)
Almuwahid in School. Thus, making generalizations must be carefully addressed. One
9
of the reasons for choosing these three schools is the convenience to the researcher in
traveling to collect data. The second reason is that the chosen schools are well reputed
in the area and they are the three biggest Islamic private schools in Muang district.
Hence, they provide the scope to have more students for the present study.
The student participants were categorized into 3 levels of academic
achievements, which are low-achievers, average-achievers and high-achievers based
on the O-NET (Ordinary National Educational Test) score of students — the standard
tests for students of the whole country.
Basically, the O-NET takes place only once a year for students of Grade 6
(Prathom Suksa 6), Grade 9 (Matthayom Suksa 3) and Grade 12 (Matthayom Suska 6).
This study selected students from Grade 10 (Mathayom Suksa 4) who have taken O-
NET while studying grade 9 as participants. The researcher chose students who took
the O-NET in Grade 9 and continued to Grade 10 in the same school for ease of
access to the O-NET score that can only be provided by the schools where they took
the O-NET. Therefore, the O-NET scores of the students in 2015 were collected in
2016 during which year this study was conducted.
Since this is an academic achievement study, it utilized the scores from thr
Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET) that takes place annually in November.
However, this test was done in 2015 while the self-assessment for Thinking Styles
Inventory was done a year later. This research, therefore, has a limitation in terms of
the fact that the most recent performance in academic achievement might have
changed within the one year period.
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1.8 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Since the thinking style used in this study is derived from the MSG or Mental Self-
government Theory, which was developed by Sternberg in 1994. Out of thirteen
thinking styles, merely the three of them that fall under the ‗function‘ dimension were
targeted in this study and they are all regarded as independent variables while three
academic achievement groups were considered as dependent variables. Thus, this
study aims to analyze thinking styles of students in Islamic private schools in the
sense of their preference in handling their academic work. Furthermore, it also seeks
to determine the best predictor among thinking styles that contribute to a students‘
academic achievement group. The graphical theoretical framework for the current
research is illustrated in the following figure.
Figure 1.1 Theoretical Framework based on Mental Self-Government Theory
Function dimension of
Sternberg & Wagner’s
TSI (1991)
1) Legislative
2) Executive
3) Judicial
Academic Achievement
groups
1) Low-achievers
2) Average-achievers
3) High-achievers
Students’ Thinking
Styles
(TSI) based on
Mental Self-
government
Best predictor
Measured by
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1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Thinking Styles
There are 13 styles under Sternberg‘s mental self-government, however, only three
styles under function dimension: Legislative, Executive and Judicial.
Function Dimension
Basically, there are five dimensions that comprise the mental self-government of
Sternberg‘s theory, namely function, form, scope, level and learning. Function is one
of the five dimensions and includes legislative, executive, and judicial. Sternberg and
Wagner (1991, p.1) have explained that these three primary functions ―are reflected
both in the types of mental processes and problems that utilize them and in terms of
the styles that they generate‖.
Legislative Styles
Sternberg and Wagner (1991, p.2) describe a person with legislative styles as ―a
person who enjoys creating, formulating, and planning for problem solutions‖. Instead
of being told, a student who has legislative style prefers to be the one who decide how
things are going to be done in his or her own favorite way (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005).
Executive Styles
This style describes an individual that prefers the tasks that provide rules, guidelines
or clear instructions to follow. Thus, students who have preference in this style of
thinking may be viewed as ‗an implementer‘. They prefer ―those mental functions
involved in implementing, not in planning cognitive and other activity‖ (Sternberg &
Wagner, 1991, p.2).